K&L cares about the security of your credit card and personal information. We detected that your browser and/or operating system is not compliant with current credit card security protocols. Please click this message for more information.

K&L cares about the security of your credit card and personal information. We detected that your browser and/or operating system is not compliant with current credit card security protocols. Please upgrade your browser and/or operating system. Your browser and operating system need to support industry standard transport security protocol TLS version 1.2. Alternatively, contact K&L and we can help you with your order.

2010 Bodegas Volver "Tarima Hill" Monastrell Alicante

SKU #112982793 points
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The opaque purple-colored 2010 Tarima Hill exhibits notes of chocolate fudge, pen ink, graphite, blueberries and blackberries. This full-bodied, 100% Monastrell should drink well for a decade or more. These amazing efforts taste more like they should cost $30 to $50 as opposed to the mid-teens. Bodega Volver, a joint project between Rafael Canizares and Jorge Ordonez, produces wines from three appellations, La Mancha, Alicante and Jumilla. Readers will need to take note of the nearly identical cuvees, some of which are made from organic grapes and others from non-organic grapes. That information is clearly marked on the labels. Slightly more expensive are the 2010 and 2009 Tarima Hill. These cuvees come from the winery's oldest vines (20 acres of ungrafted vines that were planted in 1935) planted on the highest elevations.
(10/2012)

90 points
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

Bright ruby. A highly perfumed nose displays cherry, raspberry, pipe tobacco and Asian spices. Juicy and precise on the palate, with very good depth to its sweet red berry, bitter cherry and spice flavors. Fine-grained tannins add shape and grip to a long, silky and alluringly sweet finish. This is one of the best values in red wine that I've tasted in a long time.
(11/2011)

K&L Notes

A fine value in old-vine Spanish wine, the "Tarima Hill" is 100 percent Monastrell (Mourvèdre). Volver's Tarima Hill vineyard is planted with 40-75 year old Monastrell (Mourvedre) vines which are pruned low to the ground and dry-farmed. These vines handle the wild summer day/night temperature swings and lack of rainfall beautifully. The Alicante region is less famous than some other regions in Spain such as Rioja, but its grape growing history dates back to Roman times, and probably as far back as the earliest eras of recorded history.

Product Reviews:

I've always been a big fan of Mourvedre (Monastrell in Spain), and the 2010 Tarima Hill does not disappoint. This wine is a big boy at 15% abv with lots of ripe dark fruit and hints of leather and chocolate. This a great selection to pair with grilled red meats. A very approachable wine for the novice, but with enough complexity to surprise the discerning drinker - and a steal at under $15! I'll be very interested to see how this wine evolves over the next 5-7 years.

Additional Information:

Varietal:

Mourvedre

- Also called Monastrell and Mataro, Mourvèdre is most famous for the ruby-hued wines of Provence's Bandol region, known for their spicy, gamey, blackberry character, though the grape is grown throughout Provence and the Southern Rhône. Thought to have originated in Spain, it is second only to Grenache in vine acres, with the best examples found in Rioja, Alicante and Penedès.

Country:

Spain

- With more land under vine than any other country in the world, Spain is the great sleeping wine giant. In recent years, a great deal of money and passion has been poured in the burgeoning Spanish wine industry, helping to improve quality among its vast array of wines from sparkling Cava to Sherry to Rioja Gran Reserva. The most important red-wine-producing regions are Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Navarra in the north and Priorat and Penedes in the northeast.